What I’m Loving Lately: October 2018

I’ve had a BUSY few months, and there was so much I wanted to share on this October edition of What I’m Loving Lately, but I had to cut it down so that this post didn’t turn into a novel. With no time to waste, let’s get right to it!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with organization. As a kid I always organized the folders and binders in my school backpack, and looked forward to getting new school supplies at the beginning of each year (<– nerd alert much!?). I even reorganized the books on my bookshelf and items in my desk drawers a few times a year. I know, I know, what strange behavior for a 12 year old, but hey, at least I knew where everything was!

To this day, I still love to organize and I am regularly rearranging the storage solutions in our apartment (much to my husband’s dismay when he realizes that I’ve moved his things around…). I’ve known about Marie Kondo’s tidying methods for awhile now, but it wasn’t until recently that I finally sat down to read her entire book.

If you haven’t heard of Kondo’s methods, in short, she requires you to take out every single item in your house, touch it, and ask yourself if it brings you joy. If it doesn’t, then she advises you to part with it. Of course, there are some things in your house that likely won’t bring you much joy, but are necessary to have (paper towels, sponges, a hair brush, etc.), so I am not talking about those things.

I’m typically pretty good about giving away belongings that we no longer need or use, but Marie Kondo’s book really encouraged me to go one step further and take a second look at some of the items I was only holding onto only because I “might” need it or wear it one day.

At the end of my week-long clean out, I ended up with multiple large bags of clothing, accessories, and household supplies to donate. That leads me to the next item on my list…

A large chunk of the items I had to give away were old business casual work clothes that I haven’t worn in over a year since I no longer work in an office. I realized I was holding onto many of these pieces for sentimental reasons (This was was my first-ever business suit!) or practical reasons (What if I need it again soon?). In reality, these items were just taking up space in my closet, and I knew deep down that I didn’t need some of them.

I found a wonderful NYC-based organization called Bottomless Closet, that provides disadvantaged women clothing and accessories to wear to job interviews and eventual jobs that they land with the help of the organization. Bottomless Closet also provides resume and interview assistance to these women, who may be getting back into the workforce after a difficult life experience (illness, abuse, addiction, etc.).

I wanted to donate my gently worn clothing to this incredible organization, but I don’t have a car in the city, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to lug all of my donations onto the subway. A woman at Bottomless Closet told me about Give Back Box, which allows you to print $15 flat rate mailing labels to a variety of charities right from your home. The practical part of me didn’t want to spend $15 to ship items within NYC, but when I realized that I likely would have to spend more than that in transportation to their headquarters, I figured it was easier to just ship everything and be done with it.

Give Back Box made it so easy to print a mailing label right from my computer, so if you have items you want to donate and no time or ability to do a drop-off, check out Give Back Box.

I just bought these gray New Balance sneakers from Zappos, and they are RIDICULOUSLY comfortable. Seriously, I feel like I am walking on clouds / wearing nothing at all. They’re super lightweight and pair well with all of my workout clothes.

I was pleasantly surprised by how many cute new styles New Balance has, and I honestly had trouble selecting a pair. I also loved these FuelCore sneakers with memory foam.

New Healthy Food Finds from Expo East

I attended the Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore last month and came home with so many delicious samples. I’m still going through all of them!

Below are some of my favorite new healthy food finds from the expo:

From the Ground Up Cauliflower Crackers: Truthfully, I did not expect to like these crackers because I am not a big cauliflower fan, but they surprised me! They’re gluten-free, dairy-free, and do not contain a bunch of added sodium or sugar. The packaging is adorable, so I think kids would love them, too.

Swapples Waffles: These are made with just real fruit, vegetables, and spices. The cinnamon and blueberry are my favorites!

Sprout Living Fruit Not Candy Vitamin Gummies: These vitamin gummies are so yummy and they don’t contain any gelatins, syrups, or added sugar. I know they’re technically vitamins, but I like to eat them after a meal when you need just a small bite of something sweet.

Wildscape Frozen Meals: I am usually not one to advocate for frozen meals, but these Wildscape meals are GOOD. Like REALLY good. Once reheated, they don’t taste like frozen food and certaintly aren’t packed with extra sodium, chemicals or preservatives. Sadly, they aren’t sold near me yet, but I can’t wait until they are because I will be stocking up!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase one of the items in this post, I may earn a very small commission (at no extra cost to you). Thank you very much for your support!

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I did a version of the Kondo method — unknowingly — when we moved from our apartment to our house about three years ago. Since we were packing everything up, I had to touch everything, and I asked myself as I did it, “Does this still make you happy? Can you see yourself displaying it lovingly and happily in your new home?” And, obviously, versions of that for things that don’t need to be displayed. Bottom line: I trashed/donated a TON of stuff, and I still continued to trash/donate even more while I was unpacking in the new house. (I’m organized by nature, but a packrat by nurture, so it’s really hard for me to give away things at first try.) This method made a HUGE difference in not only how our home looked, but our lifestyle and my mindset. I realized I no longer wanted a ton of clutter surrounding me; I love decorations, but I don’t want every surface covered, nor do I need it to be. I’ve really reigned in the chaos of clutter, and I’ve also drastically reduced our monthly spending, haha. I mean, Home Goods still holds allure for me, but only when I need specific items; not just to purchase something in the moment and not know where to put it in my home afterwards.